Kitty Baby Love is being featured at the Sunshinestudio Blog for an interview and Kitty Egg Crayon giveaway! It was a lot of fun doing the interview and covers topics from our daily schedule to our favorite possession. Read it here.3 month anniversary

The interview opens with the above photo. This picture marks our 3 month anniversary as a family and is taken in front of our fireplace in Portland, Oregon.

Also, just wanted to say Hello! to all of our new blog followers. It’s so nice to have you here ^_^

In case you’ve not recently visited our shop, the Kitty Bowling set is finished and ready to be purchased! See our original post on the bowling set here.

The white painted sets were listed last Thursday and the Natural wood version were listed just a few days ago.

Bowling Kitty Set

Ben and I are imagining the Bowling Kitties to be used on a fun family night. We love playing board & card games (our favorites include Monopoly, Scrabble, and Rummy) and think anything other than watching TV would be a great way to pass time and bond as a family unit. You can bet that we’ll use these with Mikah when he is old enough. It is going to be so cute to see him try to roll a ball at wooden kitties! ^_^

Bowling Kitty Set

Until that time, we leave it up to you to enjoy them!

Breastfeeding has been such an amazing experience for me and Mikah. I started leaking a couple of months before he was born, so I had no fears about producing or not producing enough milk when he did come. What was unexpected was the gorge a few days after his birth when my “real” milk came in. It felt like I had horrible breast implants! 3 weeks later my nipples were still tender, but I refused to give up and I am glad I didn’t. Now breastfeeding is no longer painful, but joyful, and there are no words to describe the bonding between him and I.

The list of benefits from breastfeeding is extensive, including:

  • fewer allergies
  • high IQ
  • protection from asthma
  • fewer each aches
  • saving money
  • convinience
  • better teeth
  • bonding

Really, there is no reason someone who is capable of breastfeeding to not do so.
This post is inspired by One Love,  from which the following photos are also taken…

Surrender: “heidi and hans – nap time”


CHRYSALIS

Hungry crying
stirs me out of dreams
into a dawn
of musty canvas, damp
pillows, ribs that ache.
I crawl over the breath
of a sleeping husband, stumble
out of the tent into a thick
morning

to sit on the ledge, legs curled
against the moss, feeding a warm
baby who nestles
his cheek against my breast,
milk dripping
from the sides of his mouth
as he drifts into sleep.

In the marsh that stretches before me, cattails touch
the mist. Jewelweed opens to warmth. And I wonder

what other woman in what other time sat here
like this, her sleeping son cradled
in the crook of her leg,
watching the great blue heron rise
from her nest, weaving herself
into the pattern of dead leaves and new ferns,
eyelids closed, chin raised

touched by the sunrise, drenched
with the morning,

waiting

awakening

Poem by Jo(e)

Happy Breastfeeding!

The prototype has been completed! (see our original post here)

The two kitty paws (above) are actually erasers that adhere to the body by magnets…
Unfortunately they don’t work! The beautiful heavy wood we picked out is just too thick. The little rail on the bottom of the chalkboard to hold chalks is also a nice touch, but was eliminated with the idea that chalkboard kitty will serve better as a car/travel companion… which would make having a rail rather silly!

We will be keeping our prototype pictured above and selling the 3 chalkboard kitties that were completed as a limited edition piece. They will come with colored chalk, an eraser, and a reusable canvas bag to store it all in. Why limited edition? It just takes way too long to make. All the corners and edges are rounded as a safety feature and take forever to do (and are thus more expensive to make)… just look at all those curves around the tail and feet! It just wouldn’t be cost effective. Also cutting the shape out is impractical to do out of our home on a larger scale… *sigh*
So while we would love to make more of these (they are so cute to have around the house), it’s back to the drawing *ahem* chalk boards for us…

Chalkboard Kitty No.2

3 Chalkboard Kitties *are now available* on our etsy shop for $45 + $8 priority mail shipping in US
International shipping available

Ben, Mikah, the 3 cats, and I have relocated to the beautiful Portland! We’re loving spending the end of summer here in our new home. We are also enjoying having NO SALES TAX! Oakland had a 9.75% sales tax charge so it’s quite a nice change to have. We’re also happy to extend this no tax-ness to our customers. Horray for Portland!

Here are some pics from our drive up. Most noteable a mural Ben did almost TEN YEARS AGO that is still partially visible today. This will be the last time we will see it for a while so I took a shot while driving by on the Highway. If you’re in the Bay Area, check it out sometime!

Original photos from 2001. The mural reads “As they sail, they go through ups and downs but always remain balanced” and features 10 illustrated steps on how to make a paper boat. The top left text reads “Boat Journeys.”

Sailing

A photo of Ben working on the mural….

Sailing

And here it is in 2009! Unfortunately there has been some (really ugly) graffiti over it, but I find it pretty amazing that you can still see a good portion of it almost a decade later…

Sailing

….

Goodbye rolling yellow California hills….

Driving to Portland

Driving to Portland

Hello, pine tree covered Oregon!

Driving to Portland

Driving to Portland